Sunday, February 10, 2008

This is the signature dish in my family. This is one I associate with all big family meals and it's one my favorite dishes. It starts with copious amounts of ginger and garlic, finely chopped with a food processor.

Fresh chicken broth is made by poaching whole chickens. This was the first of three that Mom fit into the pot.

The rice is the best part of the dish. Generous portions of ginger and garlic are toasted in hot oil. Freshly washed rice is added and the grains are cooked until translucent.

Instead of water, the fresh chicken broth is used to cook the rice. Pandan leaves and lemongrass stalks are placed in the broth and the rice is cooked as usual in the rice cooker.

I peeled 5 heads of garlic. :) I think Mom peeled two big roots of ginger. The metal dish is 8-9 inches in diameter, so that was a lot of diced ginger and garlic! It smells incredible, especially since all of it goes into hot oil. That smell is enticing, but for me, it takes me home. Growing up, I smelled that smell almost every day.